The Boston Celtics came out of Thursday night’s matchup with the Toronto Raptors with another win (132-125). The Celtics have now won 8 of their last 10 regular-season games against the Raptors. They continue their season with a 4-game-winning streak following Thursday night. As for the Raptors, they came into Thursday night shorthanded, still making the Celtics work for this win.
The Raptors shorthanded
Covid-19 has made it hard for all teams and players to compete in this year’s NBA season. The Raptors were without 5 of their men against the Celtics Thursday night due to health and safety protocols. Three of those five players being, Fred Vanvleet, Siakam Pascal, and OG Anunoby, starters for the Raptors. Along with having starters out, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse and many other staff members were also out. Despite being shorthanded, the raptors came out strong in the first half. In the first half, the Raptors made 11 3-pointers helping them to hold their lead.
Chris Boucher made sure to dominate the court and put points up on the board for the Raptors. Boucher ended his night with 30 points and 5 rebounds. With a percentage of 73.3, this left Boucher making over 50% of his shots from the field goal Thursday night. Norman Powell also had a great night ending with 25 points, 21 of them being made in the first half.
Thursday night proved to be a back-and-forth game up until the third quarter. Kyle Lowry tried to change that, having a total of 19 assists and 14 points at the end of the night. The Raptors held the lead for most of the first half, ending the half with a score of 70-66 (Raptors).
Celtics hold off the Raptors
The Celtics had a slow start in Thursday night’s game, trailing for most of the first half. Despite the Celtics starting slow and having 6 turnovers in the first quarter, they came out after the first half, ready to come back. What was once a 4-point half deficit was turned into a 9- 9-point lead, the Celtics up. The Celtics outscored the Raptors 35-22 in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Celtics gained their biggest lead of 12 points. The Raptors were able to bring it back to a 3-point game but were unable to finish.
The star duo Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum exploded and helped the Celtics gain their lead in the second half. Brown, only having 1-point in the first half, scored 20 more points in the second half. Brown ended his night with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Tatum played an impressive game putting up 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. Although the duo had a great game, this was a team win. Fifty-one points came from the Celtics bench Thursday night, 20/26, from the field goal.
Up Next
Both Lawry and Siakam (Raptors) were selected to play in the upcoming All-Star weekend. The dynamic duo Tatum and Brown were also selected to play in the upcoming All-Star weekend.
After the break, the Raptors (17-19) will go up against the Atlanta Hawks on March 11th at 7:30 p.m.
The Celtics (19-17) will go up against the Brooklyn Nets on March 11th at 7:30 p.m.
